TEHRAN: At least 35 Pakistani pilgrims travelling to Iraq for a Shias ritual were killed as their bus crashed in central Iran, state media reported early Wednesday.

“A bus carrying 51 Pakistani pilgrims overturned and caught fire in front of Dehshir-Taft checkpoint in the central province of Yazd on Tuesday night,” Iranian state television reported.

It said “28 people have been killed and 23 injured so far with the possibility of the death toll increasing”.

Yazd province crisis management chief Ali Malek-zadeh told the broadcaster that some of the injured were in critical condition.

“Of the 23 injured, six have already been discharged from hospital, while the condition of seven others is critical,” Malek-zadeh said.

“The dead consisted of 11 women and 17 men,” he added.

Head of Iran traffic police, Teymour Hosseini, cited “technical failure in the brake system” and the “high inclination of the road” as the reasons for the crash.

The Iranian and Pakistani foreign ministries expressed their condolences and sympathies to the families of the bereaved.

Foreign Office further said the consul of Pakistan in Zahedan has been asked to visit the accident site to ensure medical relief to the injured and arrange the repatriation of the dead bodies to Pakistan.

Most of the victims are residents of Sindh province where the bus journey began.

Syed Sultan Ali, the brother of the tour operator, told AFP: “My older brother Syed Shamsi has been running this service since 2010, and it has always gone so well. We have been deeply upset since last night.”

He added that his brother is “unhurt” because he was travelling in a separate vehicle.-AFP

INP adds: At least 35 people were killed and 15 others sustained serious injuries after a bus carrying pilgrims met with an accident in Yazd, Iran.

According to Maulana Qamar Abbas Naqvi — a member of a peace committee based in Larkana — said at least 30 people died on the spot, while five succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.

Speaking to a private TV channel Maulana Shah Murad Sharifi, a Qom seminary student hailing from Larkana, said that the pilgrims’ convoy comprised two buses carrying around 52 passengers each.

Elaborating on the current situation, he said that apart from five to six people who suffered minor injuries, most of the passengers of the ill-fated bus were in critical condition and were being treated in a local government hospital.

When asked about what caused the fatal accident, Sharifi said he had heard people saying that the vehicle’s brakes had failed before the accident.